Zig & Zag

Zig and Zag are two puppets, who made their television début on Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)’s TV show The Den. Apparently extraterrestrials from the Planet Zog, Zig and Zag visited Ireland, decided to stay and were adopted by Ian Dempsey (and later re-adopted by Ray D’Arcy). They brought an alien dog called Zuppy with them.

Zig was beige with red “zogabongs” (pom-poms) and Zag was purple with green spots and yellow zogabongs and dreadlocks. Zag was portrayed as a lecherous lady-killer, whereas Zig was portrayed as a weak-willed childish simpleton, constantly giggling at rude jokes, and frequently unaware of what was going on around him. Their image was boosted by highly successful comic books and their number 1 selling parody song albums. Their biggest musical success was the single “Them girls”, which made the charts in a few European countries.

After having worked on The Den for a number of years, Zig and Zag worked concurrently on The Big Breakfast, then eventually left The Den to work on the show exclusively. On this, they acted as interviewers and were less restrained with their language and actions. It was also on The Big Breakfast where they had regular chats with Kim Wilde. This started in the summer of 1993 when Kim visited the programme to do promotion for If I Can’t Have You, then during her weeklong presentation residence they were colleagues. Kim kept visiting the programme until 1996. While Kim was on Tommy, Zig & Zag did a one-off TV special entitled ‘Zig & Zag’s Dirty Deeds’, in which Kim also appeared briefly.

After a revamp of The Big Breakfast, they were dropped and produced a small number of episodes of an even more risqué show for ITV before returning to Ireland to present a music quiz called 2Phat with Ray D’Arcy, their “father” from their later years on The Den.

The last series of 2Phat ended in 2001, and the brothers returned to The Big Breakfast during its last month of production in 2002 in an unsuccessful attempt to save the programme from being axed.

Ciaran Morrison and Mick O’Hara, who provided the voices for Zig and Zag respectively], have gone on to produce a TV series for Channel 4 in 2004, The Bronx Bunny Show, and regularly appear on RTÉ Two in their current incarnations of Podge and Rodge.


Toppop

The longest running music show in Dutch television history. Toppop started on 22 September 1970 in black and white, broadcast by the Dutch television company AVRO. Presented by Penney de Jager and Ad Visser at first, Ad Visser is to become the main presenter of the show during its most popular years until 1985, when he decides to quit. In the 15 years inbetween, Toppop undergoes a multitude of changes. One thing remains the same: the half hour show presents the biggest chart hits of the week, and is broadcast throughout the year, with the exception of three months in the Summer.

Toppop was an important show for artists to perform is as the Dutch market was one of the biggest and most progressive on the European continent. More often than not, studio performances in Toppop were used in other countries as promotional videos in the 1970’s.
When Ad Visser quit Toppop, his presentation duties were taken over by Kas van Iersel for one season. The next season, Bas Westerweel and Leonie Sazias took over, and in the eighteenth and final season, Bas Westerweel presents the last 35 episodes solo. On 27 June 1988, the final Toppop was broadcast. However, this was not the end: two seasons of Toppop Gogo followed, a programme with a lot of videos and interviews on location.
AVRO cancelled the show in 1991, but always realised how important the show had been for its viewers. Which is why it was often referred to in jubilee shows and reunions. Snippets of old performances from Toppop were used for a Never mind the Buzzcocks-style music quiz show entitled Toppop Yeah, which was first broadcast on 16 May 1998. The quiz ran for a couple of years and was presented by Bart Peeters, who also presented Toppop Non-Stop, a show in which old performances were broadcast in full.

During its run, Kim Wilde was regularly featured in Toppop. She was also interviewed once in Toppop Gogo, and the video for Cambodia was once used in Toppop Yeah.

In December 2007, two 2 DVD sets with old performances from Toppop were released in the Netherlands. The first set featured Kim’s 1982 performance of View From a Bridge, the second set contained Kim’s 1986 performance of You Keep Me Hangin’ On, plus part of an interview conducted by presenter Bas Westerweel in 1988. Two more sets followed in September 2008, with Kim’s performance of Kids in America appearing on the last set of the four.

Toppop performances by Kim Wilde

24 April 1981 – Kids in America
6 April 1982 – View From a Bridge
3 December 1986 – Interview & You Keep Me Hangin’ On
1986 – You Keep Me Hangin’ On
24 March 1987 – Another Step (Closer to You) (together with Junior)
25 April 1988 – Interview & Hey Mister Heartache
26 April 1990 – Interview (Toppop Gogo)
12 September 12, 1998 – Cambodia video (Toppop Yeah)


Top of the Pops

Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a long-running British music chart television programme, made and broadcast by the BBC. It was originally shown each week, mostly on BBC 1.

Top of the Pops began on New Year’s Day 1964 in Studio A in Longsight, Manchester, which the BBC had bought from Mancunian Films in 1954. DJ Jimmy Savile presented the first show. The show was originally intended to have only a few programmes but ran for over 42 years, reaching landmark episodes of 1000 and 2000 in 1983 and 2002 respectively. During its heyday in the 1970s, it attracted 15 million viewers each week. It was traditionally shown on a Thursday night, but was moved to a Friday starting on 14 June 1996.

The show saw many changes through the decades, in style, design, fashion and taste. It periodically (usually every three years) had some aspect of its idents, format, or set design altered in some way, keeping the show looking modern despite its age. The show was closely associated with the BBC radio station Radio 1, usually being presented by DJs from the station.

In the mid-1990s, BBC Radio 1 producer Ric Blaxill was brought in to revamp the show. Blaxill handed presenting duties to a different celebrity each week. Presenters during this period included Kylie Minogue, 2 Unlimited, Chris Evans, Chris Eubank, Damon Albarn and Jarvis Cocker.
In 2003, the show was again overhauled. In a break with the previous format, the show played more up-and-coming tracks ahead of any chart success, and also featured interviews with artists. The new show, hosted by MTV presenter Tim Kash launched to hit ratings and continued to pull in big name artists and film stars. After a year the show was then hosted by Reggie Yates and Fearne Cotton every Friday night until 8 July 2005. The final Top of the Pops was broadcast 30 July 2006.

Starting in 1994, there was also a spin-off series known as TOTP2 (or Top of the Pops 2). It continued to run months after its predecessor had been axed.

Top of the Pops has also been made available to television broadcasters in many different countries in the form of a franchise package. However, after some success, the majority of these have now also been cancelled.

Top of the pops performances by Kim Wilde

26 February 1981 – Kids in America
7 May 1981 – Chequered Love
30 July 1981 – Water on Glass
26 November 1981 – Cambodia
25 December 1981 – Kids in America
22 April 1982 – View From a Bridge
5 May 1983 – Short interview
4 August 1983 – Love Blonde
18 August 1983 – Love Blonde
11 October 1983 – The Second Time
16 May 1985 – Rage to Love
30 October 1986 – You Keep Me Hangin’ On
13 November 1986 – You Keep Me Hangin’ On
20 November 1986 – You Keep Me Hangin’ On
23 April 1987 – Another Step (Closer to You) (with Junior)
7 July 1988 – Giving Glenn Medeiros a birthday cake
21 July 1988 – You Came
13 October 1988 – Never Trust a Stranger
22 December 1988 – Four Letter Word
23 March 1989 – Love in the Natural Way
28 December 1989 – You Keep Me Hangin’ On
7 May 1992 – Love Is Holy
8 July 1993 – If I Can’t Have You
26 March 2006 – Kids in America (1981)

Kim Wilde in Top of the pops 2

21 February 1995 – Kids in America (1981)
18 November 1995 – Cambodia (1981)
17 September 1999 – Kids in America (1981)
18 November 2000 – Chequered Love (1981)
23 November 2002 – You Keep Me Hangin’ On

Kim Wilde in German Top of the pops

31 May 2003 – Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime (with Nena)

Kim Wilde in Dutch Top of the pops

17 August 2003 – Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime (with Nena)
14 October 2006 – You Came (2006)
25 November 2006 – Perfect Girl


Knight Rider

Television series starring David Hasselhoff. When a policeman is mortally wounded, he is taken in by a millionaire who puts him back on his crime solving feet with a new identity and a computer-controlled car.
Kim Wilde appeared in a 1985 episode with a part of her music video for The Second Time. The episode was entitled Knight Racer and was first aired on 29 November 1985 during the fourth season of the series.


I Love 1981

Second program in the BBC series ‘I love the 80’s’, televised in January 2001. The 1981 program focused on Kim’s debut year. It featured an item about Kim lasting for about seven minutes. The segment was filled with interviews and clips from a TV performance and the videos for Chequered Love, The Second Time and You Keep Me Hangin’ On. Interviews with Kim, Rick and Marty Wilde, Brian Grant (director of Kims early videos) and Mickie Most.


Great Garden Guide

Gardening programme, broadcast by ITV West (UK), in which Kim Wilde and Toby Musgrave visit the most stunning gardens in the West of England. The programme was broadcast weekly from February to April 2003 in eight episodes.


Getting on

Getting On is a satirical British sitcom based in an NHS hospital. It is largely improvised by its cast, who also wrote the series. The series is directed by Peter Capaldi. In it, British comedian Jo Brand plays Kim Wilde, whose name is referred in the series as “not the singer”, is a return to work nurse, who must adapt to the difficulties the modern NHS throws at her, with strange managers, form-filling, and political correctness. Vicki Pepperdine plays the “tough but fair” doctor on the ward, and Joanna Scanlan plays Den, the ward sister. Ricky Grover has a supporting role as Matron Hillary Loftus, the matron of the aged care facility.

The first series, broadcast in 2009, consisted of three episodes, whereas the second series, broadcast in 2010 featured six episodes.

The show has received high praise from television critics across the board in the UK, with praise for the actors’ performances, and the gritty, realistic portrayal of an NHS hospital. Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine were nominated for the 2009 Royal Television Society Award for Best Writing in Comedy. Both Jo Brand and Joanna Scanlan were nominated for the 2010 BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Role.

According to Jo Brand, ‘I did this thing called Britain Sings Christmas. I met Kim on that and I said to her, ‘I’m going to be doing a series and I’m going to be called Kim Wilde,’ and she said, ‘can I come and be in a bed?’. So we’ve got her in mind, to slot her in in a Hitchcockian kind of way and not even mention it. She could sing Kids In America while we tranquillise her.’ (1)

Interview source

(1) Kim Wilde cameo on Jo Brand comedy? In: Belfast Telegraph (UK), 22 October 2010


Fame

Television series derived from the movie of the same name. Fame was extremely popular during the 1980’s which a huge fan following in America and Europe.

The cast actually covered a Kim Wilde song, Young Heroes in the fourth season. The episode is called ‘Spontaneous Combustion’ and is mostly about the character Miss Sherwood.

Miss Sherwood (Carol Mayo Jenkins) is in the hallway while the kids are dancing and carrying on. She is accidentally knocked down by Cleo and hospitalized. Mr. Morloch is forced to make a rule that there is to be no dancing, singing or music of any kind in the school except of course in the appropriate class rooms for each. This drives Leroy (Gene Anthony Ray) crazy and he goes dancing down the halls one day and is expelled because of it. Miss Sherwood finds out what’s going on and when she gets out of the hospital she goes and starts playing the piano in the lunch room to prove that the school is about music and dancing and it’s not the same without. That’s when Nicole Chapman (Nia Peeples) and Doris Schwartz (Valerie Landsburg) sing Young Heroes.


Disco

Disco was a music programme on German television, broadcast between 1971 and 1982 on the ZDF channel. The programme was presented by Ilja Richter and consisted of performances of popstars in the studio, as well as music videos.

Kim was featured once in the programme, on 18 May 1981, performing Kids in America.

When Disco stopped in November 1982, the show was succeeded by Vorsicht Musik.


Countdown (Netherlands)

The Dutch broadcasting company Veronica started their TV programming in the second half of the 1970’s on a public television channel. They were entitled to a few hours of television every week. They started the programme Countdown. Initially, Countdown was broadcasting live concerts by artists such as AC/DC and the Police, but in 1983 the programme was remodelled. Host Erik de Zwart presented a chartshow not unlike its main competitor Toppop.
In 1984 De Zwart was replaced by newcomer Adam Curry. Born in America, he presented the show with a heavy accent. He was responsible for a period of immense popularity. Within a few years, Countdown was the most popular music show in the Netherlands, and it was soon franchised into Europe: first on Europa TV, then on Sky Channel.
Adam Curry quit the show in 1987, when he was offered a contract by MTV in America. Presenters Simone Walraven, Wessel van Diepen and Jasper Faber failed to continue the success story, and by 1994, Countdown was finally cancelled.

During its run, Kim Wilde visited the Countdown studios numerous times. She performed all of her biggest hits and was repeatedly interviewed in the show.

Countdown performances by Kim Wilde on Dutch television

31 July 1983 – Love Blonde
31 January 1985 – Interview, The Touch
28 June 1986 – Interview, The Touch, Schoolgirl
20 April 1988 – Hey Mister Heartache
24 August 1988 – You Came
18 January 1989 – Four Letter Word
18 April 1990 – Interview
25 April 1990 – It’s Here
27 April 1992 – Interview, Love Is Holy
1992 – Who Do You Think You Are?
21 September 1993 – Interview, You Keep Me Hangin’ On, Three Little Pigs, If I Can’t Have You

Countdown performances by Kim Wilde on satellite channels

28 July 1986 – Interview & videos (Europa TV)
24 April 1988 – Interview, Hey Mister Heartache (Sky Channel)
28 August 1988 – Interview, You Came (Sky Channel)
1988 – Never Trust a Stranger (Sky Channel)
25 April 1990 – Interview, It’s Here (RTL Veronique)


Countdown (Australia)

The Australian broadcasting company ABC started with the music programme Countdown on 8 November 1974. It was initially a half hour program on Saturday night. By January 1975 ABC relaunched Countdown shifting it to the prime timeslot of 6pm Sunday and extending it to a full hour with Ian “Molly” Meldrum as talent co-ordinator on the show and later as presenter. It became a renowned programme in Australia, helping bands like ABBA, Blondie and the Human League to break into the Australian market. After a 13 year run, the programme was cancelled.

During its run, Kim Wilde visited Countdown a few times. She performed a few of her songs and was also interviewed for the programme whenever she was in Australia.


Stars in Their Eyes

UK television program in which people dress up as their favourite artists and sing one of their songs.
In the celebrity version of the show Kim Wilde took part twice, in August and December 2002. The first time she sang Que Sera Sera as Doris Day, the second time she performed Nobody Does It Better as Carly Simon.